Posts Tagged ‘hot rod wiring’

Now that the TR4 Triumph fuel tank has been installed in the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod, it is time to think about a fuel delivery system for the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod.
Small block Chevrolet engines are almost all the same. These engines all come with a place to mount an “on engine” manual fuel pump. Engines that are carbureted have an extra lobe on the cam shaft to push a small rod in and out of the manual fuel pump as the engine rotates. Engines that are fuel injected do not have this extra fuel pump lobe on the cam shaft. The engine that I am using in the 1929 Ford roadster hot was originally fuel injected. Therefore, I have no choice but to use an electric fuel pump designed for carbureted engines.

The electric fuel pump that I decided on was a Holley 110 GPH “Blue” with regulator part #: 12-802-1. Of course, being fugal, I looked around for a used one. Fortunately, I found a used one only a few minutes from home for $50. This was a bit of a deal as the same one on the Holley web site lists for $139. The fellow I bought it from used it on a race car at the local track for a few runs before deciding to get out of the hobby. Since the fuel pump looked cosmetically good, and powered up fine, I bought it. Buying used electric parts can be a bit dicey, but the nice feature about these electric fuel pumps is that service kits are readily available from Holley.
The best location for the electric fuel pump is as close as possible to the fuel tank. These pumps work better pushing fuel rather than pulling fuel. On the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod, the TR4 Triumph fuel tank is located behind the seat. Not wanting the electric fuel pump in the cockpit area of the hot rod, mounting the fuel pump on the chassis was the next thought.

Before an exact location can be selected on the chassis for mounting the Holley electric fuel pump with regulator, the fuel line needs to be routed through the floor of the hot rod. A fuel filter was mounted directly under the TR4 Triumph fuel tank using a rubber hose connection. Using a short piece of rubber fuel line from the fuel filter with a second short piece of larger rubber hose used as a grommet to protect fuel line from unwanted wear at the section of fuel line that passes through the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod floor.
Using a small piece of 1.5 inch angle iron, a small bracket was made to attach the electric fuel pump to the chassis of the hot rod. As it worked out, the Holley electric fuel pump with regulator could be easily mounted to the rear cross member next to the upper shock mount. Using a threaded insert tool, four 0.25 inch threaded inserts were installed on the rear cross member. To help eliminated noise vibration from the electric fuel pump, a small piece of rubber belting and four rubber grommets were used to attach the fuel pump to the chassis. Another short piece of rubber fuel line passing through the hot rod floor from the fuel filter was used to attach to the fuel pump. This short rubber hose connection will allow for minor and ever so slight movement between the body of the hot rod and the chassis.

Now it’s time to complete the electrical connections. From the Holley website, this fuel pump draws 3 amps and they recommend using a 7.5 amp fuse. I measured the current draw using a direct current (DC) clamp and measured approximately 2.5 amps with no fuel to 3.8 amps with fuel. The 1929 Ford roadster hot rod engine is using a Weiand 8217 electric water pump that draws 4.5 amps. Giving this a bit of thought, I decided to share the fuse for the fuel and water pumps. For this application, I selected a 15 amp fuse which is approximately double the actual current draw for both electric pumps. To turn on both the fuel and water pumps, I used a 12v relay with 30 amps contacts that is controlled by the ignition switch in the hot rod. For safety purposes, I also installed an inertia switch in series with the power feed to the Holley electric fuel pump. The inertia switch came from a 1991 Ford Mustang. The inertia switch contacts will remain closed during normal operation of the hot rod allowing the electric fuel pump to operate. The inertia switch is mounted in the rear of the car in the trunk. If for some unfortunate reason, the car or hot rod is hit, the impact will cause the inertia switch to operate causing its switch contacts to open and turning the power off to the electric fuel pump. This is a highly recommended feature and of course the inertia switch can be reset.
At a later date, I will include complete wiring diagrams and instructions for a DIY wiring of the entire hot rod.

Well here we are into November and the snow is flying in areas close to our home and shop. This past summer has been an interesting one for me. Everything started out right on track with the usual hot rod building distractions. It was decided early on that we would have our home, yard, ponds, and gardens, on the local garden tour, sponsored by the horticultural society. That was fine, since I normally just look after grass cutting and occasional hedge trimming. My wife maintains the vast number of gardens, on our 1 acre property with our Victorian home built in 1868. Unfortunately, I developed a serious problem with my shoulder in late spring that really limited my level of physical work. This also affected my work on the computer, as it was simply too painful to use the mouse and keyboard not to mention numerous sleepless nights. Oh well, I just needed to adapt like the Borg on Star Trek. I took on the task of wiring the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod and a few other very light tasks. That did not stress the shoulder at all. I did manage to get all of the instrumentation installed and connected along with the wiring for the lighting 1929 Ford hot rod. Of course, nothing is simple when you build a hot rod. I decided to convert the old original 1930 – 31 Model A Ford headlights to halogen lighting. This worked out very well. This will have a separate post later on complete with pictures and video showing the entire process of the headlight modification / conversion.

Now I needed to place the alternator on the motor as part of the wiring project. Again, this was not simple, as I wanted the alternator to be mounted low on the 350 cubic inch motor of the 1929 Ford roadster hot rod. I was not able to use conventional motor pulleys for this since the engine was very close to the radiator and I was also using an electric water pump. To solve the problem, I machined an aluminum v-belt pulley on my very old Logan metal lathe. The pulley turned out perfect and will be mounted to the front of the engine. Up to this point, power steering was not an option due to the space issue. Having machined an engine pulley for the alternator, I revisited idea of adding the power steering pump to the engine. Sometime ago I sold a power steering pump to my friend Jim another member of the Forest City Street Rods club. Jim wanted to use this on his 1937 Chevrolet street rod. Unfortunately Jim was not able to stop a leak on the oil reservoir and abandoned the GM type II power steering pump. I decided to give the pump another attempt, only this time I had an aluminum bracket and pulley for the power steering pump. The bracket for the power steering pump ended up getting a shave and trim and used for the alternator instead. I then fabricated another bracket using one inch aluminum blocks. To stop the reservoir leak problem, I machined on the lathe an aluminum press fit adapter to allow for a remote location of the reservoir tank for the power steering pump. Now that I was able to mount the power steering pump on the engine without any clearance problem, a second engine pulley was made. Having made one already, the second one was easy to make. During this process of making pulleys and brackets I realized that a milling machine would make life so much easier not to mention a metal lathe that was not worn out.

A few weeks after fabricating the new pulleys, mounts for the power steering pump and alternator that a friend provided me with a lead for some machine shop equipment. As a result of this lead, I am now the proud owner of a decent metal lathe and a Bridgeport style vertical knee milling machine. The old Logan lathe was sold and a new machine shop room was added to the workshop of 1929fordhotrod.com.

Finally, a number of weeks ago, 1929fordhotrod.com/johnsblog had an unfortunate accident and went down causing a service interruption. The process of restoring the website was a tedious one. Now that the site is back up, a few more tweaks need to be made and then more information about my build of the 1929 Ford Model A roadster hot rod will start rolling out again. No pun intended. There will be lots of information, from wiring a hot rod, fuel gauge calibration, gauges, halogen light conversion, machining parts, to general hot rod building ideas. Of course I will include many pictures, and video. It should be an exciting winter season in the shop of 1929fordhotrod.com.